If it is approved as part of a larger Colorado Springs facilities plan, the new Robson Arena would become home to Colorado College‘s hockey program.
Plans were unveiled Wednesday for two new facilities could be included in the City for Champions initiative, which also features a US Olympic Museum, United States Air Force Academy Gateway Visitor Center, and a sports medicine center. One of those venues is an outdoor stadium that would be home to professional soccer’s Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (USL), while the other is Edward J. Robson Arena–a 3,000-seat venue that would host Colorado College hockey and other events.
The on-campus facility is slated to cost about $39 million, with $9.2 million of that amount funded by State Regional Tourism Act (State RTA) bond proceeds and the balance covered by the college. Final approval of the project is still needed, but Colorado College believes that Robson Arena would amount to an on-campus facility that is conducive to modern college hockey standards. More from Colorado Springs Independent:
The indoor arena will feature 3,000 permanent seats. Named for Colorado College alumnus Edward J. Robson, it’s planned for the block bordered by Nevada Avenue and Cache La Poudre, Tejon and Dale streets.
Representatives from Colorado College emphasized that the arena would continue the school’s commitment to sustainability with environmentally friendly architecture, and would include state-of-the-art equipment.
“While it’s been a great two decades at Broadmoor Arena, we need to recognize that Colorado College has sponsored Division 1 hockey for almost 80 years but has never had an on-campus home of its own,” added Ken Ralph, the school’s director of athletics. “And our student body has never had the on-campus athletic experience our peer schools enjoy.”
According to a press release from the city, the next step is the “presentation of the business plan and finding of commencement of substantial work toward the project by the Colorado Economic Development Commission at its meeting in September.” If plans for Robson Arena move forward, it would replace Broadmoor World Arena as the hockey program’s home.
We’ve been covering the Colorado Springs sports-complex proposal since 2013, when city officials first pitched a $218.6-million sports complex that included an Olympic museum, a UCCS sports medicine center, a new Colorado Springs Sky Sox ballpark and a new Air Force Academy Visitor Center. But a state analysis of the proposal concluded it did not meet guidelines for state funding, and the project was basically mothballed. (Indeed, the Sky Sox will be moving to San Antonio in 2019, replaced by a rookie-level Pioneer League team.) But it’s back now, this time backed by a new set of investors and developers.
Rendering courtesy City of Colorado Springs.
